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Driving Etiquette - U Turns

Brown Bottle

Brown Bottle

UTB
I drive about 30,000 miles per year, a lot of it in Greater and Central London. I see a lot of bad driving and usually I just let it wash over me and don’t get stressed. I’ve noticed lately though people seem to think it’s okay to perform a u-turn, on busy roads, often involving at least a 3 point turn. The result is both lanes of traffic having to stop and wait. The way London traffic lights are weighted it often means having to wait through another sequence of lights. It’s starting to wind me up. On Friday I counted, it happened 4 times in 90 minutes. If I’m going the wrong way I wait for the next exit, turn off and get myself back on track. I do sometimes have to do a u-turn but it’s in a quiet street. Black cabs do it a lot but they’re designed so they can usually do it in one manoeuvre which is fine. Am I being unnecessarily touchy?

Cheers BB
 
This is something I first noticed about ten years ago in Reading. Once I became aware of it I realised what wound me up was the ‘inappropriate’ places some drivers would perform this manoeuvre in.
 
The problem causing this in London is that many side streets have no entry signs, no right turn signs etc. What would appear to be a logical and considerate choice can turn into endless turns going the wrong way. It’s bloody horrible and one of the reasons I’ve only been to London three times in about 14 years.

You did a 90 minute drive in London? Christ, I’d rather set fire to myself.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
The problem causing this in London is that many side streets have no entry signs, no right turn signs etc. What would appear to be a logical and considerate choice can turn into endless turns going the wrong way. It’s bloody horrible and one of the reasons I’ve only been to London three times in about 14 years.

You did a 90 minute drive in London? Christ, I’d rather set fire to myself.
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Basically Sadiq and his band of merry men in power in the capital have decided to ban the motor vehicle without actually banning the motor vehicle. Their intention is to make the whole experience of driving in their great city an undeniably joyless experience in the hope that people will magically just stop using their vehicles. In some cases they have, but the question he should be asking is why after years of road usage reductions and the introduction of a number of different camera controlled penalty systems for the slightest of transgressions as well as the move towards prioritising pedestrians and cyclists over other road users are people still getting in their vehicles and driving in London. They sure as hell aren't doing it for the fun of it so how about some adult discussion and proper research from those in charge rather than a dictatorial 'we know better than you' attitude?
 
I sometimes play ‘How many NEW Minis in a row’.
My record is three on the road, five parked.
Perhaps play similar with u-turns. Turn it into some fun.
 
ks.234 said:
Yebbut, a 90 minute drive in London is only about 500 yards!
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Yes, and this does get the question of how many hours you spend in the car. Even outside London it's difficult to improve on a 30mph average. In London that's got to fall to 15mph even if you use a few faster roads now and again. 30k miles at 15mph is 2000 hours a year, 40 hours a week. It's a full time job. Sod that.
 
stevec67 said:
Yes, and this does get the question of how many hours you spend in the car. Even outside London it's difficult to improve on a 30mph average. In London that's got to fall to 15mph even if you use a few faster roads now and again. 30k miles at 15mph is 2000 hours a year, 40 hours a week. It's a full time job. Sod that.
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Brown Bottle said:
I can’t, I live 32 miles away and need to be in Central London by 06.00 often. I also need to drop supplies and equipment off on occasion.

Cheers BB
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I hope it rewards you well.

A friend used to be a manager for private hospitals in Kent, London, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Quite often it would take three hours to get to a west London hospital from his home in Wickford, Essex.
He sold up a couple of years ago and is living an interesting life in Argentina, stress free.
 
stevec67 said:
Yes, and this does get the question of how many hours you spend in the car. Even outside London it's difficult to improve on a 30mph average. In London that's got to fall to 15mph even if you use a few faster roads now and again. 30k miles at 15mph is 2000 hours a year, 40 hours a week. It's a full time job. Sod that.
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Since getting the car in April 22, I’ve done 29,800 miles to date, at an average of 31mph. Leaving home at 04.30/05.00 it takes an hour to get into Central London, 32 miles. In the same period I’ve driven to Northallerton about 8 times and North Wales 3 times, many motorway miles at 85mph (sorry m’Lord). I do spend a lot of time in the car but I just accept it’s part of my job, I’ve been doing it for 20 years. The same drive to London was 45 minutes when I started.

Cheers BB
 
I am assumed most ‘U’ turns are illegal but the Police only enforce things where it is worth the money. For example very few people indicate even on roundabouts, lane hoggers are as bad as ever and dangerous parking is mostly ignored.
 
Rodrat said:
I am assumed most ‘U’ turns are illegal but the Police only enforce things where it is worth the money. For example very few people indicate even on roundabouts, lane hoggers are as bad as ever and dangerous parking is mostly ignored.
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Most u-turns aren’t illegal, just inconsiderate.
Your other points have been discussed over thousands of pages many times on PFM!
 
Tony Lockhart said:
I hope it rewards you well.

A friend used to be a manager for private hospitals in Kent, London, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Quite often it would take three hours to get to a west London hospital from his home in Wickford, Essex.
He sold up a couple of years ago and is living an interesting life in Argentina, stress free.
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If I leave home at 07.00 it’s generally 2.5 hours to Central London. The problem with travelling from East London to West London is the lottery of the North Circular or M25, all bets are off when you need to use those roads. If I have a job to visit in the Home Counties I generally travel from Central London and take routes that I know avoid using those roads for any distance.

Cheers BB
 
Bananahead said:
It's all the fault of modern cars that don't have a handbrake.
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Is that really so? I thought it was lazy (and potentially careless/ dangerous) drivers who sit on their footbrake (and clutch) at lights etc. What do manual cars have instead of a lever-activated handbrake then?
 
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